Workforce and Affordable Housing
The nationwide shortage of workforce housing has been well-documented
by reports from the National Housing Conference, the Millennial Housing
Commission, Fannie Mae and Harvard University ’s Joint Center for
Housing Studies. ULI considers solutions to the problem as a vital part
of better growth patterns for the nation’s urban areas.
ULI’s Community Outreach and Policy and Practice departments
work collaboratively to organize forums and produce publications on ways
to address the shrinking supply of housing that is affordable to
moderate-income households.
The Preservation Compact: A New Public/Private Commitment to Reverse
the Loss of Affordable Rental Housing in Cook County, Illinois
For more than a decade, Cook County’s supply of affordable
rental housing has been shrinking. This multibillion-dollar asset plays
a central role in the region’s $320 billion economy and is as
critical to its infrastructure as highways, transit systems, schools,
and industrial parks.
Across the country, the Chicago region is recognized as a leader in
providing creative affordable housing models made successful through
collaborations among the region’s government agencies, commercial
banks, visionary for-profit developers, and ambitious, mission-driven
nonprofits.
Guided by the Urban Land Institute and supported by the John D. and
Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, the Preservation Compact brought
together leaders from the public, private, and nonprofit sectors to
build on this tradition and craft a new vision for Cook County—to
reverse the downward trend in Cook County’s affordable rental
housing supply by 2020.
To achieve this ambitious goal, the Compact has launched its
comprehensive Rental Housing Action Plan for Cook County, which includes
six Keystone Initiatives designed to preserve and improve 75,000
existing affordable rental homes that might otherwise be lost to
condominium conversion, demolition, or rising costs.
Rich Hanson, Mesa Development, LLC, and Julia Stasch, The John
D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, are Co-Chairs of
the Preservation Compact.
The Preservation Compact Action
Plan was publicly launched in May 2007. For more information, please
visit the ULI Chicago Preservation Compact webpage or contact Judy Levey, Director of Community Outreach
and Preservation Compact Coordinator, ULI Chicago, at (773) 549-2655 or Judy.Levey@ULI.org.
Encouraging Workforce Housing in the Chicago Region, Atlanta, and
the District of Columbia
ULI’s workforce housing initiative is a long-term effort to
bring together stakeholders and experts to identify and propose
solutions to barriers to workforce housing in a particular region.
Housing initiatives are under way in the Atlanta, Chicago, Los Angeles,
and Washington, DC, District Councils. ULI, with funding from the U.S.
Department of Housing and Urban Development, assisted three cities in
2000 through 2003—Chicago, Atlanta, and Washington, DC —in
developing and implementing strategies for producing new private-market
housing that is affordable to workforce households. The purpose of this
project was to provide each city with information and practical
assistance that would help it take specific actions to overcome barriers
to the production of more affordable housing.
The Report from this effort describes how the
project has been implemented in each city, what each city has
accomplished to date, and what has been learned that may be applicable
to other cities seeking to increase their supply of workforce
housing.
See also the ULI Case Study for Action: “ULI Washington—Workforce
Housing”
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From the ULI Bookstore
Increasingly, professionals such as teachers, firefighters, retail
managers and nurses cannot find housing they can afford in the
communities where they work. This new book describes the problem;
includes case studies and examples of financially feasible, for-profit
developments; and features a section on public and private programs that
are being used to encourage the development of housing for the
workforce.
How do you meet the needs of developers that want approval for higher
density projects and also provide communities with the affordable
housing they need? Inclusionary zoning is the answer. Originally
conceived in the 1960’s, and adapted over the decades,
today’s inclusionary zoning programs offer developers incentives
in return for including affordable units within market-rate
developments.
This book describes best practices and techniques for creating an
effective inclusionary zoning program based on the experiences of
industry experts; an evaluation of state, regional, and local
programs;and case studies of 15 communities across the nation.
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